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Agriculture

From butter churns to diesel tractors, the Museum's agricultural artifacts trace the story of Americans who work the land. Agricultural tools and machinery in the collections range from a John Deere plow of the 1830s to 20th-century cultivators and harvesters. The Museum's holdings also include overalls, aprons, and sunbonnets; farm photographs; milk cans and food jars; handmade horse collars; and some 200 oral histories of farm men and women in the South. Prints in the collections show hundreds of scenes of rural life. The politics of agriculture are part of the story, too, told in materials related to farm workers' unions and a group of artifacts donated by the family of the labor leader Cesar Chavez.

This cotton weigh-up scale was a gift of James W. Butler and came from the H. H. Hopson Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Such scales were customarily used in cotton fields to weigh each worker's daily pickings, which were the basis of pay. Because cotton is so light, only the most proficient workers could pick 300 pounds.

Cotton that was planted in April or May and chopped and cultivated through the summer would be ready for picking by September. The picking season could last into December. Once the cotton had been picked, it was taken to a gin where the seeds were separated from the lint. The baled lint went to textile mills, and the seeds were crushed to make vegetable oil and cattle feed.

This electronic cow tag comes from the Cleburne Jersey Farm in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Developed at Cornell University and manufactured by Alfa-Laval, the tag is an RFID transponder that hangs around the animal’s neck. RFID stands for “radio frequency identification.” When the animal is in range of a reader, an antenna in the reader transmits a radio signal to activate the RFID chip. The chip then sends back a signal containing the animal’s identification number. The reader can relay the information to a computer that tracks each animal. Farmers and ranchers use tags to monitor a number of indicators, including medication dosage, feed output, weight, and milk production.

Historically, farmers and ranchers have used a variety of methods to track their livestock, including branding, ear marking, and visual tags. The introduction of electronic tags in the 1970s provided owners with an entirely new level of technical sophistication. When attached to other sensors, RFID chips can store additional data. For example, temperature readings indicate if an animal is sick or ovulating. Some models are “active” transponders. They broadcast a signal instead of waiting for a scanner to activate them. These chips can transmit an alert as soon as an animal’s temperature is too high or even if it is giving birth. Owners generally use electronic tags in conjunction with another mark, such as a visual tag, that allows them to identify animals on sight.

Created in the 1970s, electronic cow tags were an early civilian use of RFID. As with many inventions, the military was the first to develop the technology. During World War II, the British invented “Identify Friend or Foe” (IFF) radio transponders. On its own, radar could not distinguish between friendly and enemy aircraft. The IFF transponders transmitted radio signals that identified the aircraft as friendly. After the war, scientists worldwide started exploring civilian application for radio frequency technology. At the beginning of the 21st century, RFID systems are found in a wide variety of businesses and public services, including agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, security, and medicine.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Soil and Water Conservation District of Bureau County, Illinois distributed these signs to promote no-till farming. Conservation tillage (no-till is one approach) was developed in the 1960s as a soil preservation method. New herbicides and specialized planters allowed farmers to plant without plowing. Traditionally, farmers tilled the soil to prepare it for planting and during the growing season to kill weeds. Plowing buried weeds and crop residue from the previous season but caused damaging soil erosion. By 2015, the use of conservation tillage had reduced soil erosion in the United States to a record low.

Early adopters of GPS technology, Roy Bardole and his sons purchased this tractor guidance device in 2004 for their corn and soybean operation in Rippey, Iowa. The GPS device controlled tractor steering so that they could keep their rows straighter which is important in a no-till operation. Additionally, the amount of seed, fertilizer, and chemicals applied could be controlled by the unit so that over spraying and over seeding was reduced. At harvest time the GPS unit correlated and recorded harvest amounts for specific locations. Creating highly accurate crop-yield maps, Roy Bardole had hard data to better understand how his fields worked, get an edge on nature, and allow him to improve his farming practice.

Commercial lettuce growers like Taylor Farms expanded operations to meet demand for organic salad greens. This sign is posted in both Spanish and English, notifying employees that there is an “Organic Product in Process.” Organic products are grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, and the sign would remind workers not to mix organic and nonorganic products.

This 1/64 scale die cast model replica of the Hagie STS212 Sprayer was manufactured by ERTL in 2013. The use of high ground clearance sprayers and herbicide resistant plants allowed farmers to kill weeds and bugs even after the crop is significantly grown. The integration of GPS guidance and electronically controlled sprayer nozzle shutoffs reduces the amount of over-application of pesticides, weed killers, and fertilizer. With spray arms that fold up for street travel and fold out to 90 feet in length these self-propelled sprayers covered a lot of ground quickly.

This Dekalb sign shows a stylized ear of corn with wings. Intended to convince other farmers to switch to Dekalb hybrid seed, these signs were placed next to roads in fields planted with Dekalb seed transforming the field into a demonstration testimonial. The sign was collected from the Queen Anne Grain Company in Queen Anne, MD around 1980.

According to Dekalb historian Emerson Wells the sign was made in 1977 by Display Craft in Rockford IL. That is the year they bought out Arlie Pierce from Sycamore IL who had made all the signs up to that point. Arlie had always put the initials AP somewhere on signs. Display Craft continued that practice by putting DC under the letter A. That clearly shows. They continued making the signs until 1989. However after 1977 they also put a date with their initials. This sign has no date so it was made in '77.

Beginning in the 1930s Dekalb hybrid corn was advertised as the mortgage lifter (because of its productivity). Commercial hybrid seed was a dramatic change in farming practice as farmers moved away from open pollinated cultivars and seed saving to inbred genetic lines and purchased seed.

On December 8, 1874 Joseph Glidden and Phineas Vaughn patented this machine for making wire fences. This apparatus attached barbs to double stranded wire cables that were used to corral cattle. The machine boasts a mahogany base and metal end pieces that are painted green with gold edging.

This single reversible right and left plow model is part of a large collection of model plows that were transferred from the Department of the Interior to the U.S. National Museum in 1910. In 1952, curator Edward C. Kendall researched the model plows and desired to catalog and identify the typology of the hundreds of models, and his research led him to believe the models were made in Germany. Through correspondence with Kendall, Professor W.E. Fishcher Schlemm of the Royal Agricultural College in Stuttgart Hohenheim confirms that the models at the Smithsonian were made at a model factory previously connected with the college. Fischer Schlemm believed that Ludwig von Rau was in charge of having the models made when he worked at the school from 1852 until 1872. Fischer Schlemm said he owned a list of the models with their country of origin, which curator Kendall was keenly seeking. The list is not in the file, perhaps it exists elsewhere.

During the 19th century Baugh & Sons was one of the largest fertilizer manufacturers in the United States. Baugh manufactured a variety of ground bone based agriculture fertilizers that were tailored for a wide range of crops. Baugh’s fertilizers were widely available from farm supply stores who bought fertilizer from Baugh’s salesmen who would have used sample boxes like this.